Dozens in trouble after senior prank at Riverside-Brookfield

A high school senior prank could result in a lot of trouble for dozens of students at a west suburban school.

Early Wednesday morning, trash and broken furniture littered one of the entrances to Riverside-Brookfield High School. Messages were also spray painted on school property, and live chickens were left on the grounds.

Students also reportedly sprayed glue into locks and left obscene images on windows and trees.

More than 60 students have been identified as taking part in the prank, which caused thousands of dollars in damage, officials said. They face disciplinary action and might not be allowed to attend homecoming festivities this weekend.

Students had mixed reactions to the incident.

"Everyone is definitely going to think of our class, at least, differently," said Nicky Dimarco, student.

"Doing stupid stuff like this won't get you in college, so that's why I wasn't invited," said Tyler Jenks, student.

In a letter to parents, school administrators said the prank caused up to $3,500 in damage. The letter called the acts "a display of immature, vulgar, insulting, hurtful, and destructive actions that rose to the level of vandalism."

"I think that they should get punished. There should be some repercussions for their actions," said Donald Monroe, parent.

The prank was part of a rite of passage- the annual homecoming week senior prank.

"Normally it's just toilet paper all over everything, all over the trees. That's pretty much it. I've never seen furniture thrown everywhere before," said Hilary Kluczynski, who lives near the school.

A neighbor, who wishes to remain anonymous in fear of being targeted by students, said she called police just before 1:00 a.m. Wednesday morning as about 100 students were gathered at the school.

"They woke me up. I called police because there was a lot of yelling. I didn't know if there was a fight or what was going on out here," said the neighbor.

Police say they went to the school but didn't see anything other than the usual toilet paper. It appears that later, another group of students arrived to further the damage.

School officials did not respond to ABC7's calls on Friday. But students say that 20 pranksters have been suspended for 2-3 days and dozens others are being banned from homecoming activities.

Meanwhile, Riverside police could not say whether criminal charges are likely. The police chief says it is up to school officials to pursue these charges.